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User: MichaelJ

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Comments · 174

  1. Well, I still like Evernote on Slashdot Asks: What's Your Preferred Note-Taking App? · · Score: 1

    I use Evernote extensively across several Macs and iOS devices using native applications, a Pebble watch using Powernoter (awesome for checking off shopping list items while in the store), and my Linux desktop at work using the web interface. I like that I can tag and apply other metadata for organizational purposes, encrypt entire notes or just portions of text, and it's all rich content so I have one entire notebook full of Owner's Manuals in PDF format. They also integrate well into the various platform operating systems, for things like clipping and sharing.

    Apple has enhanced their iCloud Notes ecosystem to have rich content, but it does not have the metadata or organizational tools that Evernote has, as well as all the problems with iCloud such as it syncing when it wants not when you want and with no feedback about errors, dumping data if it thinks you're low on space (leaving you screwed when you're on the plane), terrible conflict resolution, and it does start to cost money if you exceed 5GB of iCloud storage (which counts iOS backups and Photo Library if you use those, as well as all other iCloud documents saved there).

    All this makes me long for the simple days when I used TiddlyWiki on a flash drive I'd carry around and plug into computer or laptop, back before smartphones and other mobile devices.

    I'm not jumping ship, but I'm curious to see how this plays out.

  2. Re: Awful editing on Apple Offers No Explanation for 7-Hour Outage (nbcnews.com) · · Score: 1

    Actually during that timeframe I found that my Apple TV 3 would not connect to Netflix, while every other device in the house could. So I restarted the ATV3, and all I got were two icons onscreen: Settings, and Computers. At the time I had no idea what was going on. Now it makes unfortunate sense.

  3. Re: Digital hoarders on Apple Says It Doesn't Know Why iTunes Users Are Losing Their Music Files (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    I don't know what would change the setting (in the Advanced tab of iTunes preferences) behind your back, but I can tell you that whatever that selected behavior is, holding down the Option key when dragging files to iTunes from the Finder will reverse that preference for that drag-drop operation. A copy into the media folder will show a green + sign once you drag to iTunes (before your drop). A link to the existing location will not.

  4. Re:Is there a left-handed version? on Amazon Kindle Oasis With 'Months' of Battery Life, Redesigned Body Launched · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did you even try to read the article? “A built-in accelerometer flips the screen so you can switch the grip from your right or left hand.”

  5. Filmstrips on Ask Slashdot: Sounds We Don't Hear Any More? · · Score: 1

    The beep sound on the record telling you to advance the filmstrip to the next frame.

  6. Or ... on LAX To London Flight Delayed Over "Al-Quida" Wi-Fi Name · · Score: 1

    Another way you can view this is as a very successful terrorist action: it was effectively a proof-of-concept of a denial of service attack.

  7. Re:Just tell me on Positive Ebola Test In Second Texas Health Worker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    According to the Times she was not symptomatic at the time of that flight; however, I would consider it nearly criminal for her to have chosen, even lacking symptoms, to fly in a plane or be in any public confined space until well after the maximum possible incubation period after the last moment she could possibly have been exposed to the contagious patient.

  8. QR Code? on The Apache Software Foundation Now Accepting BitCoin For Donations · · Score: 1

    Why would you publish a QR code on a web page, where you can just have a link? What am I supposed to do, aim my phone's camera at my monitor?

  9. In some countries, the penalty for drug offenses is not prison, it's execution.

  10. Re: Not for deaf/hard of hearing... on Unintended Consequences For Traffic Safety Feature · · Score: 2

    Pedestrians *in* a crosswalk have the right of way; however, at signalized intersections, pedestrians waiting to enter the crosswalk do not. They must obey the signals. In other words, if someone is waiting at the curb to use a crosswalk in the middle of the street somewhere, you are legally obliged to stop and let them cross. You can be ticketed for not doing so. However, if the same person is waiting at a crosswalk at an intersection and "Don't Walk" is displayed, you do not have to stop for them, they have to wait on the curb. If a pedestrian is in a crosswalk for whatever reason, you must stop and let them finish otherwise there are a number of different reasons you can be ticketed. However, you needn't stop for them if they're on the other side of a divided road. In Massachusetts, anyway.

  11. Re:This will accelerate my transition on Apple Kills Aperture, Says New Photos App Will Replace It · · Score: 1

    The thing about Aperture is not only is the workflow perfect for my needs, but it also integrates into the Apple Ecosystem - trivial syncing of albums to iOS devices for show-and-tell with friends, as well as selection of photos in any file dialog under the Media picker. Going to Lightroom, Capture One, or any other third-party solution loses out on that (at least partially; I know about arbitrary folder-of-photos syncing). Additionally, I have Aperture set to auto-import my iCloud (Photostream) images to a project. Once that goes to the snazzy new setup, I don't know if I'll even be able to get at those out of Photos without fancy scripting or manual manipulation. Dammit, I had just started Applescripting my Aperture workflows, too.

  12. Re:No different than asking... on Can You Tell the Difference? 4K Galaxy Note 3 vs. Canon 5D Mark III Video · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's no real-time autofocus in nearly all dSLR video recording, including the 5DMKiii used here. In Canon's lineup, only the 70D can do it.

  13. Re:old tech on Reviving a Commodore 64 Computer Using a Raspberry Pi · · Score: 1

    $-terminated string output. Bless ya for bringing back good memories. Gotta go now ... INT 20h.

  14. Model Releases? on DoD Public Domain Archive To Be Privatized, Locked Up For 10 Years · · Score: 2

    If these images are then provided for money, does that have implications for requiring model releases for any photos with recognizable individuals in them?

  15. Why do I need an aggregator? on Slashdot Asks: How Will You Replace Google Reader? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    An application on my desktop, or "app" on a tablet or smartphone, is all the aggregation I need in order to read the RSS feeds to which I'm subscribed. The only functionality that Google Reader ever provided that I needed was syncing unread/read information across those applications. Of course, under the covers the applications were letting Google do all the heavy lifting, even the RSS feed checking. Going forward, though, all I need is an RSS reader application that's multiplatform with read/unread syncing.

  16. Re:I like it! It is a brillant design. on Apple Updates MacBooks and Mac Pro Desktop With Haswell, "Unified Thermal Core" · · Score: 1

    I have two additional expansion cards in my current Mac Pro: FW800 ports and USB ports. I use them all. Seriously, only 4 USB ports on the new Mac Pro and all of them are in the back? That makes plugging in a camera a pain unless I pre-fill all those ports with cables and leave them dangling in the front of the machine. And only 4? I have 8 devices plugged in right now, and most of them say "Do not try to use with a hub." They definitely won't work plugged into the keyboard; they *might* work plugged into the ports on a Cinema Thunderbolt display, but who knows. Which interface will the almost-mandatory-in-a/v-work DVD drive plug into? If you're going to force me to go all-external, fine, but give me enough ports! Don't even start with me about "swivel," that's useless once the power cord is plugged in.

  17. Re:simple on What Features Does iOS 7 Need? · · Score: 2

    No, but there's no reason why Airprint can't work with any shared printer on your Mac. When AirPrint was first announced Apple were going to support this - then they signed an exclusive with HP and disappeared the feature. There's third-party software to do this (e.g. Printopia). At one point, I found instructions for adding the appropriate zeroconf and CUPS settings to my Linux box so I could print to it (but a later iOS update borked that).

    On a Mac, handyPrint works wonderfully. I have a networked HP laserjet that predates AirPrint. It's set up as a shared printer on my Mac, and then handyPrint adds the appropriate Bonjour advertising and any other necessary tidbits. Printing from my and my wife's iPhones and iPads works great. I have no connection to the company, just a very satisifed user.

  18. Re:Wow on FBI Releases Boston Bombing Suspect Images/Videos · · Score: 1

    I believe 4chan's photos are all from the other bomb site, not where the FBI-released photos were taken.

  19. Another One Today on Boeing Dreamliner Catches Fire In Boston · · Score: 4, Informative

    Another Dreamliner just got a fuel leak and dumped a good mess all over a taxiway at Logan until the engine was shut down. Not a good week for 787s in Boston.

  20. Screw whitespace, it's about maintainability on Ask Slashdot: Do Coding Standards Make a Difference? · · Score: 1

    I'll give you a coding standard that's worth having: use a prefix to clearly identify your module statics and globals. If in an OO language, your class statics and member variables, too. If I'm looking at your code and I see an assignment to a nonlocal variable, I shouldn't have to go off analyzing the entire source tree to find out what it is.

  21. Re:Don't forget the Registry Cops. on Black Boxes In Cars Raise Privacy Concerns · · Score: 1

    Massachusetts got rid of the Registry Police in 1992.

  22. HelveticaNeue is awful on Apple Declutters, Speeds Up iTunes With Major Upgrade · · Score: 1

    The change of font is horrible. On both my 11" MacBook air and my big 1920x1200 cinema display it looks blurry, hard to read, and is too large. I've read that it looks nice on a retina display, but for the rest of us it's illegible crap with no way to correct it except by manually editing the plist file and crossing your fingers you don't screw it up.

  23. Re:food sources distort results on How Hair Can be Used To Track Where You've Been · · Score: 1

    There are other bottling facilities in New England. Pepsi has one in Cranston, RI. Coke has one in Londonderry, NH.

  24. Re:Do Not Want on FCC To Allow Cable Companies To Encrypt Over-the-Air Channels · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not just the cable company. It's the production company, too. I have Verizon Fios, and on my TiVo, an hour of a 1080i AMC show like The Walking Dead is 3.25GB, while an hour of the ABC show Once Upon a Time is 5.86GB. It's very obvious, too, The Walking Dead looks blotchy, full of glitches and artifacts.

  25. Re:I guess you;ve been watching... on $1 Billion Mission To Reach the Earth's Mantle · · Score: 1

    I was shocked I had to scroll down this far before seeing a reference to Crack in the World. Too many young'uns on Slashdot. The Core is a terrific movie when compared with Crack in the World. You want bad science? How about blasting a new moon out of the earth, eh?